Salesforce and SAP Ventures-backed Mulesoft, an online integration platform, acquires API database ProgrammableWeb for an undisclosed fee from Alcatel-Lucent.
Month: May 2013
Europe quarterly snapshot
This is our first quarterly look at the European corporate venturing market.
Venturing soldiers on amid market turmoil
Wider corporate venturing activity continued to be robust, although the month was down on prior periods. In April there were 64 investments worth $885m, 93 investments worth $1.6bn in the same period last year, and 78 investments worth $905m in March.
‘A trip to Europe’s high-tech Mecca’
My trip to the Munich Network in March painted an interesting portrait of an innovative region.
Corporate investors add value to their companies
The results show that corporate venturing-backed companies are more likely to secure a successful exit and, perhaps more surprisingly, to receive higher valuations and acquisition premiums.
Lean approach to start-ups
“I refuse to join any club that would have me as a member.” – Groucho Marx In my 21 years as an entrepreneur, I would come up for air once a month to read Harvard Business Review. It was not only my secret weapon in thinking about new startup strategies, it also gave me a view of the management issues… Continue reading Lean approach to start-ups
A hitchhiker’s guide to open innovation
Although plagued with mixed opinions that are influenced by mythology surrounding the investment industry, corporate venturing is finally resurfacing as an important component of the corporate innovation toolbox. As companies reassess the contribution that corporate venturing can make to their innovation objectives, it is critical that the fundamentals of corporate venturing are understood. This article addresses a number of important points to… Continue reading A hitchhiker’s guide to open innovation
The Clean Deal: If you think it is over, think again
Remember the pub bores of circa 2001 who were adamant the internet was a flash in the pan? At the time, with share prices of many internet pioneers in freefall, they may have seemed right. They were not. Facebook, Amazon, LinkedIn and one or two others have done rather well in the intervening years. The same is true of the clean technology sector today.… Continue reading The Clean Deal: If you think it is over, think again
Gaule’s Question Time: Iain Cooper, Schlumberger
In our series of interviews with leading innovation and venture developers, Andrew Gaule, founder of the Corven Corporate Venturing Network, talks to Iain Cooper manager, early-stage technology investments at Schlumberger.
Lean start-up inspires
Official recognition has come to a method of entrepreneurship. This month’s Harvard Business Review made entrepreneurship its focus and the esteemed publication allowed one of the founders of “the Lean Startup movement”, Steve Blank to write a lead article on the movement. Blank said in an article on his blog, excerpted in this issue: “Lean goes mainstream. 250,000 copies of… Continue reading Lean start-up inspires
Alibaba chats up Weibo in $586m deal
As Alibaba ventures into the social media and social commerce segments of its investment portfolio, a $586m investment into Weibo, China’s equivalent to Twitter seems bang on target to its corporate strategy, which is to have greater access to user data and buying trends across Alibaba e-commerce platforms and other future e-marketplaces.
YJ Capital drops Y30m into Fastmedia
YJ Capital, the corporate venturing unit of Yahoo Japan, sees increasing value in the Japanese web and mobile application market with a recent investment into Fastmedia’s Yappli product, which hopes to make App Store applications seemless and more user-friendly.
Nissei Capital, GMO in $5m Sansan deal
Nissei Capital, the corporate venturing unit of Japan’s Nippon Life Insurance Company, will be putting its networking skills to the test with its news investment in Sansan, a digital business card content management application designer. GMO Partners returned for the series B round, which was valued at $5m.
KDDI, DAC back new retail app
Japanese corporate fund, KDDI Open Innovation Fund, has linked up in a reported $5m co-investment deal with advertising agency Digital Advertising Consortium, to take advantage of one of the latest retail and social media apps to be launched on the Japanese market, Origami.